Nutrition iQ continues to move customers in right direction

By Michael Johnsen

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT — If only it were as easy as a voice in our heads screaming “Recalculating!” when we've taken that turn down the candy or chip aisle in the grocery store, then maybe diabetes and obesity wouldn’t quite be the epidemics that they are. Supervalu’s nutrition iQ comes about as close to an actual dietary GPS as you can get without affixing a Garmin to the shopping cart handle, and it’s a program that elevates the overall shopping experience to boot.

(THE NEWS: Supervalu expands nutrition iQ program. For the full story, click here)

Rather than suggesting a wrong turn may have been made, nutrition iQ offers the road signs that will help shoppers navigate any aisle, even the candy and chip aisles. And what’s even better is the engine driving this eat-this-not-that signage — Joslin dietitians and Supervalu nutritionists.

Beyond shoppers making smarter decisions as to what sits in their pantry however, nutrition iQ also sets the stage for Supervalu to fulfill the role of being a health destination. Anything you need to become healthier or maintain health can be found under one of Supervalu’s banners, from the food and supplements on the shelves to the pharmacists and nutritionists behind the bench.

“We strongly believe that a single destination where customers can find fresh food [and] have access to full pharmacy services [will] help customers achieve personal health goals, whatever those may be,” Chris Dimos, Supervalu's president of pharmacy, told Drug Store News when nutrition iQ was first hitting store shelves. “We want to become a solution center for the sick [and] a destination for the healthy."